I went down to Barcelona for 3 days to visit my old mate Sean and his lovely wife Marta.
First up was a visit to the Sagrada Familia, Barcelona's most famous Gaudi cathedral, and a most amazing building.
Construction started in 1882, and it is expected to continue until at least 2041! Now thats a lot of work!
Front of the building, with the Nativity Facade. These 4 towers are repeated at the back, and when finished there will be 18 towers!
The Nativity facade
Baby Jesus
The 3 wise men bring 2 pigeons as a gift - not so wise after all!
Angel in my Harp
Inside the building, its chaos! Here we see some fine examples of Authentic Spanish style scaffolding, circa 2008
A model of the finished inside. Most of gaudi's designs were inspired by nature. The columns are inspired by trees, and you can see the joints are modelled on tree joints, and the top of the columns branch out like a tree.
He also models parts on shells, rosebuds, flowers, waves and all sorts of incredible things. A most amazing man!
Part of the ceiling
One can go up to the top of the towers for a panoramic view, but it can currently only be done by a tiny lift, so with a wait of over an hour, I thought I would give that a miss. Pity!
Stained glass
At the other side of the Nativity facade is the Passion Facade. The sculptures were added to this in 1987, and they came in for a lot of stick, as the abstract style was so different from Gaudi's style. Personally, I loved them!
2 mourners at the crucifiction
Soldier on horseback
Soldiers at the crucifiction
Quite odd this, as the cross comes out at a great angle over you in the facade, instead of being upright
I must be honest here, I did not take this photo. This is the finished look of the church, which will be able to fit 13 000 people!
The central spire will be 50m taller than the current towers, and at night beams of light will shine out of the armsof the cross up top.
A 3rd facade is currently being worked on, the Glory Facade, about the life and death of mankind.
Sadly, Gaudi died in 1926, so missed out on seeing a lot of his masterpiece!
The facade of the building. See how the pillars resemble bones!
The balconies all look like some weird cat skulls!
Inside the Piano Nobile room.
Light in the bathroom.
Looking down in the central foyer.
Looking through the glass in the landings.
Weird pattern on the ceiling.
Mushroom shaped fireplace.
Superb lighting, with some amazing swirls on the ceiling.
Staircase modelled on a fishy style spine, with the walls and ceiling having a scaly patterning.
Room modelled on the rib cage of a whale. Many of the passages have the same design.
Inside the water chamber. Some form of laser/lighting method reflects the water flowing down the ball all over the rounded walls and ceiling of this room, while soothing water dripping effects play. All very relaxing!
On the roof, with the dragon's back visible behind the chimneys
With the kids, Brandon and Shane's Kayleigh, and Ally and Greg's Alex.
